We all know the day pro and junior coaches are hired, the clock starts to tick until they are fired.
Most often when coaches are let go, there team is at or near the bottom of the standings and/or have greatly underachieved.
The most common time making a coaching change occurs is shortly after a team has completed its season.
How then does one explain at least four high profile head coaches in the BCHL that were handed walking papers at the most peculiar time in 2017-18?
EXAMPLE ONE = NANAIMO CLIPPERS
Four days before Christmas, the new owner of the Clippers, Wes Mussio, gave the pink slip to general manager and head coach Mike Vandekamp, after seven productive years on the job.
At the time of Vandekamp’s dismissal, the Clippers were 18-13-3-2 and in second place in the Island Division.
For the record, they finished in second and lost to the Powell River Kings in the first round of the playoffs.
The public reason given for the termination by Mussio was irreconcilable differences with the management team.
By the way, Vandekamp, a former Prince George Cougars coach, was recently hired as coach of the GM of the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
.@PGCougars‘ former head coach Mike Vandekamp (@kamper72) is new @cowichancaps bench boss | https://t.co/jlADhh047x #CityOfPG #Sports pic.twitter.com/JTtCijWFbE
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) April 11, 2018
EXAMPLE TWO = POWELL RIVER KINGS
This is the team that lost in five games to the Prince George Spruce Kings in the Coastal Conference Final.
On January 29th, with 11 games left in the regular season, Powell River with a winning record of 23-15-5-2, sacked head coach and general manager Kent Lewis, who was in his 18th season running the bench.
“I don’t know what the feeling is like when you have the carpet ripped from under your feet,” said Lewis to the Powell River Peak.
“You conk your head, then you get punched in the gut and you take a knife out of your back all at the same time.”
This story doesn’t have a happy ending since Lewis is suing the hockey club.
The suit was filed in Supreme Court on March 2nd in Powell River Law Courts.
The Powell River Kings have made a Head Coaching change with the organization, relieving Kent Lewis of his duties and promoting Brock Sawyer to Interim Head Coach.
More info: https://t.co/5Bu9xw7tGy#bchl #powellriver pic.twitter.com/gVQxxrUeCx
— Powell River Kings (@BCHLKings) January 29, 2018
EXAMPLE THREE = TRAIL SMOKE EATERS
The Smoke Eaters sacked head coach and general manager Cam Keith, on the same day that the city celebrated the team’s extended post-season run.
Trail won two playoff rounds, including an upset victory over first place Penticton, to reach the Interior Division Final against Wenatchee.
The Smoke Eaters finished 32-21-4-1 under Keith in his second season on the job.
Team owner Rich Murphy wouldn’t divulge why he made the decision, but told My Kootenay Now that the decision had nothing to do with the on-ice product.
Prior to Keith’s arrival, Trail finished in last place.
(Keith has joined the Chilliwack Chiefs as an assistant coach for the 2018 RBC Cup)
We’re excited to announce Cam Keith will join new head coach Brian Maloney on the Chiefs’ bench for the duration of the @HC_RBCCup. https://t.co/YtosVcWAev #RBCCup
— Chilliwack Chiefs (@Chiefs_Hockey) May 7, 2018
EXAMPLE FOUR = CHILLIWACK CHIEFS
The Chiefs dismissed head coach Jason Tararnic just nine days prior to hosting the Royal Bank Cup national Jr. A championship.
Chilliwack president Glen Ringdal told the Vancouver Province:
“So many factors came into it. Here’s our order: what’s best for the 23 players fighting for the RBC, what’s best for the club overall, what’s best for our community and finally, what’s best for the people who pay the bills. The timing made it extremely difficult yet that much more imperative. You feel bad. You never like to see things like that happen to good people. Jason did a lot of good for things for us.”
Granted, the Chiefs may have underachieved in the regular season with a 26-26-3-3 record, but why wait over seven weeks since your last game in Prince George (a 3-1 loss in Game Seven) March 11th?
Tararnic had been the team’s coach for four years.
Under his leadership, Chilliwack reached the Fred Page Cup Final in each of the last two years.
From a distance, it’s difficult to comprehend how nearly 25% of the BCHL teams decided to let go a successful coach at an odd time.
It can be argued these moves damage the credibility of the teams and the league.
###
The RBC Cup starts Saturday!
With two of the five teams from the BCHL, the Prince George Spruce Kings will have interest in how Chilliwack Chiefs and Wenatchee Wild perform since they played both in this year’s playoffs.
Wenatchee may have beaten PG in five, but the Wild also knocked out the AJHL-champion Spruce Grove Saints in the same amount of games.
The other three teams in the tournament are the Steinbach Pistons (Manitoba Junior Hockey League [MJHL]), Ottawa Junior Senators (Central Canada Hockey League [CCHL]), and Wellington Dukes (Ontario Junior Hockey League [OJHL]).
RBC SCHEDULE:
- Saturday, May 12th: Wellington vs. Ottawa (2PM) | Wenatchee vs. Chilliwack (7PM)
- Sunday, May 13th: Wenatchee vs. Steinbach (2PM) | Chilliwack vs. Ottawa (7PM)
- Monday, May 14th: Steinbach vs. Wellington (7PM)
- Tuesday, May 15th: Wenatchee vs. Ottawa (2PM) | Chilliwack vs. Wellington (7PM)
- Wednesday, May 16th: Steinbach vs. Ottawa (7PM)
- Thursday, May 17th: Wenatchee vs. Wellington (2PM) | Chilliwack vs. Steinbach (7PM)
- Saturday, May 19th: Semi-final #1 (2pm) | Semi-final #2 (7PM)
- Sunday, May 20th: Championship Game (4PM)
###
Prince George will have local content in the Stanley Cup Final.
The NHL Eastern Conference Final opens tonight with Washington at Tampa Bay.
Brett Connolly plays for the Capitals and will be going against his former team coached by Jon Cooper, also of Prince George.
The pick … Tampa in seven!
In the West, Vegas faces Winnipeg beginning Saturday.
The pick … Winnipeg in seven!
WESTERN CONFERENCE FINAL: #WPGWhiteout vs. #VegasBorn
You ready to do this, @GoldenKnights?
WE ARE WINNIPEG. pic.twitter.com/fYZSCH3KZ0
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) May 11, 2018
FROM THE QUOTE RACK:
Chip Gaines from the HGTV show “Fixer Upper” ran a marathon while wearing a tool belt. And now for the bad news — that’s ALL he wore.
*Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon
The NHL has ordered Brad Marchand to stop licking opponents during scrums. “I was only goofing around,” said Marchand, tongue in cheek.
*Marc Ragovin of New York
Without naming names, just a reminder that licking is frowned upon on the golf course as well.
*Montreal Canadiens twitter account
Funny…throwing shade when you were out of the playoff race since October.
*Brad Marchand twitter account
It’s come out that Red Sox star Mookie Betts is related to soon-to-be royal Meghan Markle. This means there’s a chance that one day there will be a “King Mookie.”
*Conan O’Brien of TBS
Can someone go into Wikipedia and change the Owner of The Toronto Raptors to LeBron James?
*Comedy writer TC Chong of Vancouver
FIFA called out Donald Trump on ethics after he tweeted about not supporting countries who don’t support the North American World Cup 2026 bid. Give Donald Trump credit – who else could give
FIFA the moral high road?
*Comedy writer Janice Hough of Palo Alto, California www.leftcoastsportsbabe.com
Danica Patrick says she is settling into driving Indy cars again, but needs work in traffic. The good part is when she is racing she never has to use the rear view mirror to see who is behind her.
*Comedy writer Jim Barach of WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va., http://jokesbyjim.blogspot.ca/
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Danica Patrick reportedly said on the Rachel Ray Show she has a lot in common with quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Presumably, we can rule out being good at passing.
*Comedy writer RJ Currie www.Sportsdeke.com
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Hartley Miller is the sports director and morning news anchor for 94.3 the GOAT.
He also is the 94.3 radio color commentator for P.G. Cougars home games.
His column appears Fridays on myprincegeorgenow.com.
Send along a quote, note, or anecdote to [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @Hartley_Miller.